Most naturally occurring peptides contain carbohydrate moieties attached to the peptide via specific linkages to a select number of amino acids along the length of the primary peptide chain. Thus, many naturally occurring peptides are termed “glycopeptides.” The variability of the glycosylation pattern on any given peptide has enormous implications for the function of that peptide. For example, the structure of the N-linked glycans on a peptide can impact various characteristics of the peptide, including the protease susceptibility, intracellular trafficking, secretion, tissue targeting, biological half-life and antigenicity of the peptide in a cell or organism. The alteration of one or more of these characteristics greatly affects the efficacy of a peptide in its natural setting, and also affects the efficacy of the peptide as a therapeutic agent in situations where the peptide has been generated for that purpose.
The carbohydrate structure attached to the peptide chain is known as a “glycan” molecule. The specific glycan structure present on a peptide affects the solubility and aggregation characteristics of the peptide, the folding of the primary peptide chain and therefore its functional or enzymatic activity, the resistance of the peptide to proteolytic attack and the control of proteolysis leading to the conversion of inactive forms of the peptide to active forms. Importantly, terminal sialic acid residues present on the glycan molecule affect the length of the half life of the peptide in the mammalian circulatory system. Peptides whose glycans do not contain terminal sialic acid residues are rapidly removed from the circulation by the liver, an event which negates any potential therapeutic benefit of the peptide.
The glycan structures found in naturally occurring glycopeptides are typically divided into two classes, N-linked and O-linked glycans.
Peptides expressed in eukaryotic cells are typically N-glycosylated on asparagine residues at sites in the peptide primary structure containing the sequence asparagine-X-serine/threonine where X can be any amino acid except proline and aspartic acid. The carbohydrate portion of such peptides is known as an N-linked glycan. The early events of N-glycosylation occur in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and are identical in mammals, plants, insects and other higher eukaryotes. First, an oligosaccharide chain comprising fourteen sugar residues is constructed on a lipid carrier molecule. As the nascent peptide is translated and translocated into the ER, the entire oligosaccharide chain is transferred to the amide group of the asparagine residue in a reaction catalyzed by a membrane bound glycosyltransferase enzyme. The N-linked glycan is further processed both in the ER and in the Golgi apparatus. The further processing generally entails removal of some of the sugar residues and addition of other sugar residues in reactions catalyzed by glycosylases and glycosyltransferases specific for the sugar residues removed and added.
Typically, the final structures of the N-linked glycans are dependent upon the organism in which the peptide is produced. For example, in general, peptides produced in bacteria are completely unglycosylated. Peptides expressed in insect cells contain high mannose, paunci-mannose N-linked oligosaccharide chains, among others. Peptides produced in mammalian cell culture are usually glycosylated differently depending, e.g., upon the species and cell culture conditions. Even in the same species and under the same conditions, a certain amount of heterogeneity in the glycosyl chain is sometimes encountered. Further, peptides produced in plant cells comprise glycan structures that differ significantly from those produced in animal cells. The dilemma in the art of the production of recombinant peptides, particularly when the peptides are to be used as therapeutic agents, is to be able to generate peptides that are correctly glycosylated, i.e., to be able to generate a peptide having a glycan structure that resembles, or is identical to that present on the naturally occurring form of the peptide. Most peptides produced by recombinant means comprise glycan structures that are different from the naturally occurring glycans.
A variety of methods have been proposed in the art to customize the glycosylation pattern of a peptide including those described in WO 99/22764, WO 98/58964, WO 99/54342 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,335, among others. Essentially, many of the enzymes required for the in vitro glycosylation of peptides have been cloned and sequenced. In some instances, these enzymes have been used in vitro to add specific sugars to an incomplete glycan molecule on a peptide. In other instances, cells have been genetically engineered to express a combination of enzymes and desired peptides such that addition of a desired sugar moiety to an expressed peptide occurs within the cell.
Peptides may also be modified by addition of O-linked glycans, also called mucin-type glycans because of their prevalence on mucinous glycopeptide. Unlike N-glycans that are linked to asparagine residues and are formed by en bloc transfer of oligosaccharide from lipid-bound intermediates, O-glycans are linked primarily to serine and threonine residues and are formed by the stepwise addition of sugars from nucleotide sugars (Tanner et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 906:81-91 (1987); and Hounsell et al., Glycoconj. J. 13:19-26 (1996)). Peptide function can be affected by the structure of the O-linked glycans present thereon. For example, the activity of P-selectin ligand is affected by the O-linked glycan structure present thereon. For a review of O-linked glycan structures, see Schachter and Brockhausen, The Biosynthesis of Branched O-Linked Glycans, 1989, Society for Experimental Biology, pp. 1-26 (Great Britain). Other glycosylation patterns are formed by linking glycosylphosphatidylinositol to the carboxyl-terminal carboxyl group of the protein (Takeda et al., Trends Biochem. Sci. 20:367-371 (1995); and Udenfriend et al., Ann. Rev. Biochem. 64:593-591 (1995).
Although various techniques currently exist to modify the N-linked glycans of peptides, there exists in the art the need for a generally applicable method of producing peptides having a desired, i.e., a customized glycosylation pattern. There is a particular need in the art for the customized in vitro glycosylation of peptides, where the resulting peptide can be produced at industrial scale. This and other needs are met by the present invention.
The administration of glycosylated and non-glycosylated peptides for engendering a particular physiological response is well known in the medicinal arts. Among the best known peptides utilized for this purpose is insulin, which is used to treat diabetes. Enzymes have also been used for their therapeutic benefits. A major factor, which has limited the use of therapeutic peptides is the immunogenic nature of most peptides. In a patient, an immunogenic response to an administered peptide can neutralize the peptide and/or lead to the development of an allergic response in the patient. Other deficiencies of therapeutic peptides include suboptimal potency and rapid clearance rates. The problems inherent in peptide therapeutics are recognized in the art, and various methods of eliminating the problems have been investigated. To provide soluble peptide therapeutics, synthetic polymers have been attached to the peptide backbone.
Poly(ethylene glycol) (“PEG”) is an exemplary polymer that has been conjugated to peptides. The use of PEG to derivatize peptide therapeutics has been demonstrated to reduce the immunogenicity of the peptides and prolong the clearance time from the circulation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,337 (Davis et al.) concerns non-immunogenic peptides, such as enzymes and peptide hormones coupled to polyethylene glycol (PEG) or polypropylene glycol. Between 10 and 100 moles of polymer are used per mole peptide and at least 15% of the physiological activity is maintained.
WO 93/15189 (Veronese et al.) concerns a method to maintain the activity of polyethylene glycol-modified proteolytic enzymes by linking the proteolytic enzyme to a macromolecularized inhibitor. The conjugates are intended for medical applications.
The principal mode of attachment of PEG, and its derivatives, to peptides is a non-specific bonding through a peptide amino acid residue. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,088,538 discloses an enzymatically active polymer-enzyme conjugate of an enzyme covalently bound to PEG. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,689 discloses a covalently attached complex of α-1 protease inhibitor with a polymer such as PEG or methoxypoly(ethylene glycol) (“mPEG”). Abuchowski et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 252: 3578 (1977) discloses the covalent attachment of mPEG to an amine group of bovine serum albumin. U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,147 discloses a method of rendering interferon less hydrophobic by conjugating it to an anhydride of a dicarboxylic acid, such as poly(ethylene succinic anhydride). PCT WO 87/00056 discloses conjugation of PEG and poly(oxyethylated) polyols to such proteins as interferon-β, interleukin-2 and immunotoxins. EP 154,316 discloses and claims chemically modified lymphokines, such as IL-2 containing PEG bonded directly to at least one primary amino group of the lymphokine. U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,635 discloses pharmaceutical compositions of a water-soluble complex of a proteolytic enzyme linked covalently to a polymeric substance such as a polysaccharide.
Another mode of attaching PEG to peptides is through the non-specific oxidation of glycosyl residues on a peptide. The oxidized sugar is utilized as a locus for attaching a PEG moiety to the peptide. For example M'Timkulu (WO 94/05332) discloses the use of a hydrazine- or amino-PEG to add PEG to a glycoprotein. The glycosyl moieties are randomly oxidized to the corresponding aldehydes, which are subsequently coupled to the amino-PEG.
In each of the methods described above, poly(ethylene glycol) is added in a random, non-specific manner to reactive residues on a peptide backbone. For the production of therapeutic peptides, it is clearly desirable to utilize a derivatization strategy that results in the formation of a specifically labeled, readily characterizable, essentially homogeneous product.
Two principal classes of enzymes are used in the synthesis of carbohydrates, glycosyltransferases (e.g., sialyltransferases, oligosaccharyltransferases, N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases), and glycosidases. The glycosidases are further classified as exoglycosidases (e.g., β-mannosidase, β-glucosidase), and endoglycosidases (e.g., Endo-A, Endo-M). Each of these classes of enzymes has been successfully used synthetically to prepare carbohydrates. For a general review, see, Crout et al., Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 2: 98-111 (1998).
Glycosyltransferases modify the oligosaccharide structures on peptides. Glycosyltransferases are effective for producing specific products with good stereochemical and regiochemical control. Glycosyltransferases have been used to prepare oligosaccharides and to modify terminal N- and O-linked carbohydrate structures, particularly on peptides produced in mammalian cells. For example, the terminal oligosaccharides of glycopeptides have been completely sialylated and/or fucosylated to provide more consistent sugar structures, which improves glycopeptide pharmacodynamics and a variety of other biological properties. For example, β-1,4-galactosyltransferase is used to synthesize lactosamine, an illustration of the utility of glycosyltransferases in the synthesis of carbohydrates (see, e.g., Wong et al., J. Org. Chem. 47: 5416-5418 (1982)). Moreover, numerous synthetic procedures have made use of α-sialyltransferases to transfer sialic acid from cytidine-5′-monophospho-N-acetylneuraminic acid to the 3-OH or 6-OH of galactose (see, e.g., Kevin et al., Chem. Eur. J. 2: 1359-1362 (1996)). Fucosyltransferases are used in synthetic pathways to transfer a fucose unit from guanosine-5′-diphosphofucose to a specific hydroxyl of a saccharide acceptor. For example, Ichikawa prepared sialyl Lewis-X by a method that involves the fucosylation of sialylated lactosamine with a cloned fucosyltransferase (Ichikawa et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 114: 9283-9298 (1992)). For a discussion of recent advances in glycoconjugate synthesis for therapeutic use see, Koeller et al., Nature Biotechnology 18: 835-841 (2000). See also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,876,980; 6,030,815; 5,728,554; 5,922,577; and WO/9831826.
Glycosidases can also be used to prepare saccharides. Glycosidases normally catalyze the hydrolysis of a glycosidic bond. However, under appropriate conditions, they can be used to form this linkage. Most glycosidases used for carbohydrate synthesis are exoglycosidases; the glycosyl transfer occurs at the non-reducing terminus of the substrate. The glycosidase binds a glycosyl donor in a glycosyl-enzyme intermediate that is either intercepted by water to yield the hydrolysis product, or by an acceptor, to generate a new glycoside or oligosaccharide. An exemplary pathway using an exoglycosidase is the synthesis of the core trisaccharide of all N-linked glycopeptides, including the β-mannoside linkage, which is formed by the action of β-mannosidase (Singh et al., Chem. Commun. 993-994 (1996)).
In another exemplary application of the use of a glycosidase to form a glycosidic linkage, a mutant glycosidase has been prepared in which the normal nucleophilic amino acid within the active site is changed to a non-nucleophilic amino acid. The mutant enzyme does not hydrolyze glycosidic linkages, but can still form them. Such a mutant glycosidase is used to prepare oligosaccharides using an α-glycosyl fluoride donor and a glycoside acceptor molecule (Withers et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,812).
Although their use is less common than that of the exoglycosidases, endoglycosidases are also utilized to prepare carbohydrates. Methods based on the use of endoglycosidases have the advantage that an oligosaccharide, rather than a monosaccharide, is transferred. Oligosaccharide fragments have been added to substrates using endo-β-N-acetylglucosamines such as endo-F, endo-M (Wang et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 37: 1975-1978); and Haneda et al., Carbohydr. Res. 292: 61-70 (1996)).
In addition to their use in preparing carbohydrates, the enzymes discussed above are applied to the synthesis of glycopeptides as well. The synthesis of a homogenous glycoform of ribonuclease B has been published (Witte K. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 119: 2114-2118 (1997)). The high mannose core of ribonuclease B was cleaved by treating the glycopeptide with endoglycosidase H. The cleavage occurred specifically between the two core GlcNAc residues. The tetrasaccharide sialyl Lewis X was then enzymatically rebuilt on the remaining GlcNAc anchor site on the now homogenous protein by the sequential use of β-1,4-galactosyltransferase, α-2,3-sialyltransferase and α-1,3-fucosyltransferase V. However, while each enzymatically catalyzed step proceeded in excellent yield, such procedures have not been adapted for the generation of glycopeptides on an industrial scale.
Methods combining both chemical and enzymatic synthetic elements are also known in the art. For example, Yamamoto and coworkers (Carbohydr. Res. 305: 415-422 (1998)) reported the chemoenzymatic synthesis of the glycopeptide, glycosylated Peptide T, using an endoglycosidase. The N-acetylglucosaminyl peptide was synthesized by purely chemical means. The peptide was subsequently enzymatically elaborated with the oligosaccharide of human transferrin peptide. The saccharide portion was added to the peptide by treating it with an endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase. The resulting glycosylated peptide was highly stable and resistant to proteolysis when compared to the peptide T and N-acetylglucosaminyl peptide T.
The use of glycosyltransferases to modify peptide structure with reporter groups has been explored. For example, Brossmer et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,753) discloses the formation of a fluorescent-labeled cytidine monophosphate (“CMP”) derivative of sialic acid and the use of the fluorescent glycoside in an assay for sialyl transferase activity and for the fluorescent-labeling of cell surfaces, glycoproteins and peptides. Gross et al. (Analyt. Biochem. 186: 127 (1990)) describe a similar assay. Bean et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,059) discloses an assay for glycosylation deficiency disorders utilizing reglycosylation of a deficiently glycosylated protein. The deficient protein is reglycosylated with a fluorescent-labeled CMP glycoside. Each of the fluorescent sialic acid derivatives is substituted with the fluorescent moiety at either the 9-position or at the amine that is normally acetylated in sialic acid. The methods using the fluorescent sialic acid derivatives are assays for the presence of glycosyltransferases or for non-glycosylated or improperly glycosylated glycoproteins. The assays are conducted on small amounts of enzyme or glycoprotein in a sample of biological origin. The enzymatic derivatization of a glycosylated or non-glycosylated peptide on a preparative or industrial scale using a modified sialic acid has not been disclosed or suggested in the prior art.
Considerable effort has also been directed towards the modification of cell surfaces by altering glycosyl residues presented by those surfaces. For example, Fukuda and coworkers have developed a method for attaching glycosides of defined structure onto cell surfaces. The method exploits the relaxed substrate specificity of a fucosyltransferase that can transfer fucose and fucose analogs bearing diverse glycosyl substrates (Tsuboi et al., J. Biol. Chem. 271: 27213 (1996)).
Enzymatic methods have also been used to activate glycosyl residues on a glycopeptide towards subsequent chemical elaboration. The glycosyl residues are typically activated using galactose oxidase, which converts a terminal galactose residue to the corresponding aldehyde. The aldehyde is subsequently coupled to an amine-containing modifying group. For example, Casares et al. (Nature Biotech. 19: 142 (2001)) have attached doxorubicin to the oxidized galactose residues of a recombinant MHCII-peptide chimera.
Glycosyl residues have also been modified to contain ketone groups. For example, Mahal and co-workers (Science 276: 1125 (1997)) have prepared N-levulinoyl mannosamine (“ManLev”), which has a ketone functionality at the position normally occupied by the acetyl group in the natural substrate. Cells were treated with the ManLev, thereby incorporating a ketone group onto the cell surface. See, also Saxon et al., Science 287: 2007 (2000); Hang et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123: 1242 (2001); Yarema et al., J. Biol. Chem. 273: 31168 (1998); and Charter et al., Glycobiology 10: 1049 (2000).
The methods of modifying cell surfaces have not been applied in the absence of a cell to modify a glycosylated or non-glycosylated peptide. Further, the methods of cell surface modification are not utilized for the enzymatic incorporation preformed modified glycosyl donor moiety into a peptide. Moreover, none of the cell surface modification methods are practical for producing glycosyl-modified peptides on an industrial scale.
Despite the efforts directed toward the enzymatic elaboration of saccharide structures, there remains still a need for an industrially practical method for the modification of glycosylated and non-glycosylated peptides with modifying groups such as water-soluble polymers, therapeutic moieties, biomolecules and the like. Of particular interest are methods in which the modified peptide has improved properties, which enhance its use as a therapeutic or diagnostic agent. The present invention fulfills these and other needs.